Parents speak about son buried in dune: 'Such panic and fear'

That's how Greg Woessner describes the scene after his 6-year-old son Nathan was swallowed up by a sinkhole and buried beneath 11 feet of sand at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

"I just remember (Nathan's friend) Colin kind of hollering and screaming that Nathan fell in a hole," Woessner told the Today show today in his first public comments about the ordeal. "From there, just utter chaos."

Nathan and Colin, 8, had been climbing Mount Baldy on July 12, following their fathers, when Nathan fell into the sinkhole. It took rescuers four hours to dig him out. Doctors at Comer Children's Hospital have said an air pocket in the sand may have saved his life and they expect him to make a full recovery.

The boy's mother, Faith Woessner, added: "We're just very, very grateful for everything they did for Nathan. We can't express our gratitude enough for the rescuers, and the nursing staff and everyone that's helped bring Nathan back to us, and we're thankful to God for being there with us and bringing Nathan back to us."

When Nathan disappeared, Greg Woessner said he and Colin's father dug frantically with their hands.

"I just had such panic and fear and desperation to get to him," Faith Woessner said. "I remember watching the backhoe digging and they were soaked in sweat and covered in sand and they were just digging."

Authorities called in utility crews with heavy equipment, eventually digging 11 feet down before spotting the top of Woessner's head. He was still upright, having apparently sunk straight down. Authorities believe a sunken tree may have created an air pocket that allowed him to survive.

"There’s probably a million different things,"’ Greg Woessner remembered about the moments after Nathan disappeared. "Just frantically wanting to get to him. The sense of calmness held me tight just to focus on what we needed to do that day. I just don't have an answer. Focus, right on him, the whole time."

Doctors say Nathan could be back home in Sterling by the end of the week.